A recent video published by sports news site Deadspin revealed many local news anchors reciting the same script warning about the dangers of biased and fake news.
However, this message seemed to have the opposite effect of the message the anchors were trying to convey.
These local stations are owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group, a group often criticized for pushing conservative commentary and coverage into local news.
This group, forcing their own agenda through local news stations, is far more dangerous than the threat of fake news, which these stations have been spreading so rapidly.
Sinclair Broadcast Group currently owns more than 190 TV stations in the United States, and is trying to own even more through proposing to purchase Tribune Media.
This is not the first time the Sinclair group has pushed its own agenda on the individual news stations.
They have been required to run segments by former Trump advisers, a practice which was criticized by comedian John Oliver on "Last Week Tonight" last year.
In 2004, its affiliates were required to air anti-John Kerry propaganda, and a reporter who criticized this was fired.
The channels even run required editorials written by former White House official Boris Epshteyn, known for the infamous Holocaust Remembrance Day statement on Jan. 2017 in which he didn't mention Jewish people.
The Federal Communications Commission has allowed Sinclair to keep consolidating and centralizing their power.
In the Deadspin video, the local anchors of Sinclair stations repeated the exact same statement about "the troubling trend of irresponsible, one-sided news stories plaguing our country."
Perhaps these statements sound familiar. It is because it is the exact same fake news rhetoric pushed by President Trump, warning his constituents against trusting popular media outlets like CNN.
Naturally, Trump has shown his support of Sinclair Broadcast Group, tweeting, "So funny to watch Fake News Networks, among the most dishonest groups of people I have ever health with, criticize Sinclair Broadcasting for being biased. Sinclair is far superior to CNN and even more Fake NBC.”
The script echoes his usual sentiments and warnings about fake news.
No matter how much Sinclair tries to deny these obvious similarities and claim to be nonpartisan, the fact that it is forcing local reporters to recite a piece of corporate propaganda is troubling.
Perhaps the most chilling part of the Sinclair script is the section which reads “Unfortunately, some members of the media use their platforms to push their own personal bias and agenda to control 'exactly what people think' ... This is extremely dangerous to a democracy.”
Yet again, Sinclair has shown to push its own corporate agenda and bias onto local reporters, fulfilling the exact sentiment it warns against, which is truly even more dangerous to a democracy.
